Save You
by Moonwolf 3000
Summary: I love the Peltier boys but Remi the bad tempered one is my favourite. Shye is an OC but she has been living at Sanctuary most of her life. Cherif loves her. She is destined for Remi. RemiXOC, mild CherifXOC M-rating for delicious lemons ENJOY! xxxxxxxx
1. Prelude

**In the year 1897, Acheron showed up at Sanctuary with a ten year old girl in his arms. She had been abused for most of her life and there were many scars on her arms where she had tried to end her life. What Nicolette and Aubert Peltier didn't know when they took her in was that she was the princess of a little-known race created many millenia ago by Poseidon to rule the water called the Kylosa. They named her Shyeanne LeAngelette - Shye for short. Now it is 2010 and after the deaths of Nicolette and Aubert, Shye is even more enclosed on herself. Can she open her heart to anyone? Or will she just remain silent for ever?  
**_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Sherrilyn Kenyon elements in this story. I just own the name of the protagonist, the race of Kylosa and the plot. This story is mostly RemiXOC and mild CherifXOC. There's some self-harm, rape, abuse and tear-jerking. Also, sex, violence and fluff. And singing. Don't like, don't read.**_

_**Would You Love Me?**_

_**Prelude  
**__August 17th, 1897_

It was a good thing Elizar Peltier was still awake when the door of the limani behind the Sanctuary bar was banged upon. He frowned as he got up, leaving his beautiful mate in bed, and pulled on a dressing gown to go to the door. When he opened it, the storm had become worse and Acheron Parthenopaeus was standing there, all decked out in dark clothes with his waist-length black hair and dark-tinted glasses.

"Are you parents there, Zar?" he asked in Zar's native French.

He nodded. "I'll just get Maman for you, Ash. She's on the bar with Papa," he mused, then caught sight of the tiny figure hidden in the folds of his coat.

A little girl, no older than ten.

He frowned at her, then rushed off the get Lo and Aubert. "Maman," he called through the kitchen door as Remi washed plates and Aimee cooked. "Maman, Acheron is at the back door."

She frowned and turned to her hulk of a husband. "Aubert, can you go? I'll wake Cherif and Alain to mind the bar for a few minutes."

Her husband smiled and kissed her on his way past. "I will be right back, _ma petite ange_," he purred and followed Zar out to where Acheron was waiting in the doorway. "What brings you to my door this late at night, Acheron?" he asked.

"Do you have room for a little one, Aubert?" he asked with a slight smile. "I found her wandering the streets. She isn't human, I know that for sure. She will need the help of your family and the other Were-Hunters when she comes into her powers."

He gently nudged the girl out from his coat; she gasped and snuggled back into his leg. "Acheron," she breathed, sobbing.

He bit his lip and lifted her up so he could hug her in her wet pink nighty, which was spattered with fresh and dried blood. "It's okay," he murmured and said something in Ancient Greek to her, the words musical with his accent. "Come on, akribos. The Peltiers will take very good care of you."

She sobbed again and whispered something in his ear. "Acheron," she mumbled again.

He nodded as she pulled away and she gave a small smile. "I promise I'll come visit as much as I can." He turned her to look at the bears. "This is Papa Aubert, and their second son Elizar but everyone calls him Zar. They'll introduce you to the rest of the family and there's a lot of them so you'll need a good memory."

She nodded vigorously and he set her down. She quite tall, looking as if she was already in her teenage years, but her soul felt ten. Her long, jet dark hair fell to her ankles but it was matted most of the way down. Her big eyes were the colour of fire, bright vivid orange. Her skin was a deep golden colour like Ash's but absolutely filthy.

Nicolette came to the door and gave the girl a hot once-over. "Is she to live with us, Acheron?" she asked, staring the girl down.

The girl cowered back under her scrutinizing gaze. "Acheron-"

"Hush," he murmured. "I don't know her name. She said her master always called her names I don't wish to repeat and her parents sold her away when she was little. Other than that, I know nothing of her."

Nicolette nodded. "We will call her Shyeanne LeAngelette - Shyeanne the little angel."

Aimee showed up and chirped, "Papa, Remi's being mean again!" she moaned.

Aubert growled. "I'll teach him a lesson, _ma petite_. You can make our newest family member feel welcome."

Aimee looked down at Shyeanne with a smile, then crouched. "Hi. I'm Aimee," she told her.

Shyeanne looked up at Ash as if for confirmation. He nodded and nudged her towards Aimee. She bit her lip as the bearswan hugged her gently. "C'mon," she grinned. "Let's get you cleaned up, angel."

Shyeanne gave Ash one last look as he bade Nicolette and Zar goodbye and left out into the storm.

In the early hours of the following morning, Remi Peltier awoke to a soft, childish singing in the room beside his where the kid Shyeanne had been given and ground his teeth. How dare she interrupt his sleep!

Flashing on a pair of trousers, he stormed into her room and she gave a squeek of fright. "What do you think you're doing?" he snarled, blue eyes wild. "You woke me up, you idiot, and I'm not nice when I get woken up!"

Tears filled her massive eyes and a sob clawed out of her throat. "Ah-ah-ah-" she stammered but couldn't get the words out.

"I don't care how cute you think you are, girly," Remi spat. "You wake me up in the early hours again and I'll gut you, make no mistake."

Leaving her to her tears, he gave her another glower and went back to his room where he got back into bed. Stupid kid.

After about half an hour, he awoke again to find Shyeanne snuggling into his muscled arm, making little sighing noises as she slept. The peace on her young face was so adorable he felt guilty for threatening her. He smiled at her and touched her short, inky hair - it looked like Aimee had cut it when she couldn't get the matted tangles out. It stuck up in all the wrong places and made her seem even more childlike.

She made a little noise and held on to his arm for dear life as if sensing he was going to take her back next door. He sighed and picked her up into his arms so he could actually get some sleep. She woke up as he placed her on her bed and blinked innocently.

"Don't even think about it, kid," he told her with a pointed look. "I'm not your Daddy or your brother or whatever. Come near me again and you'll see what it gets you."

She sniffled and turned her back on him so she could look out of her open window. He left her alone and she began singing softly again, this time something soothing like a lullaby.

_Help me run away  
Never take me back to  
All that dispair and destruction  
Keep me where I shall be safe_

His heart swelled. She may have been abused and sexually assaulted but that little girl had such a pretty voice it was unbelievable.

Shyeanne awoke at around noon the next day and got up to find a familiar blond in the hall, but it wasn't Remi. This one had shorter hair and wore a shirt and a pair of trousers.

"Huh?" she frowned.

The guy smiled at her. "Hi," he said, crouching down to her. "I'm Cherif. You must be little Shyeanne. Can I call you Shye?"

She nodded and smiled before flinging her arms around him. No words left her lips but Cherif knew this girl was very sweet and likeable.

"C'mon, Shye, let's get you some breakfast. You're too thin."

She nodded and released him from her arms to take his hand.

"What do you like to eat?" he asked, leading her downstairs to the kitchen. "We've got everything."

She frowned at the white balls of something on the table and pointed at them. Cherif looked at the beignets she was looking at and smiled. "You want some beignets?"

She shrugged and he handed her one. She took a bite, swallowed, then grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Returning to the beignet, she didn't notice Remi yawning as he entered the kitchen.

"Hey!" he snapped at her. "Those are for the customers!"

Shye dropped the half-eaten beignet and backed away from him, the look on her face purely terrified. "Ah...ah-" she gasped, tears filling her eyes. "No-"

"Christ, Remi, stop it," Cherif snapped, pushing his brother back. "I was the one who gave it to her. Leave the kid alone. She's scared of you. I was only getting her some breakfast."

Remi snarled at his brother and shoved him back. Cherif banged against the wall and Shye whimpered, falling on her backside and scrambling away, crying.

"Now look what you did!" Cherif spat, crawling over to Shye as she trembled and sobbed. "How can you get off on being such an ass when you've just made a little girl cry? You're a sick fuck, you know that?"

Remi gave another growl and stalked off, muttering under his breath.

Cherif stroked Shye's hair and kissed her forehead. "It's okay, Shye. Remi's an asshole but he'll protect you in a fight. We're family now and I know for a fact everyone here loves you already. Don't fret because I'll make sure Remi doesn't scare you again."

She nodded as tears kept streaking her face. Gods, she so hoped that demon would never find her again.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One**_

_20th December, 2010_

"Do you think Shye blames herself for Maman and Papa?" Cherif asked Aimee one evening as they stood outside Shye's door with a tray of food for her. "She hasn't come out of her room since Acheron came over last week. Even then, she didn't touch anything."

Aimee's brow creased. "I should be blaming myself for it. It's my fault those idiots decided to fight us," she sighed. "But she shouldn't be so withdrawn. Usually she's downstairs helping out with the Howlers and stuff. They want her to play keyboard tonight 'cause Tripper is already playing guitar for half the songs."

"I swear that girl is gifted," Cherif mused, his hands shaking slightly. "There's not much she can't play or do. Remi told me the first night she was here - the night Ash dropped her off - she was singing in her bedroom to the stars and moon. He says she does it whenever there's either a full moon or a luna eclipse. Nobody knows why. She won't say telepathically or anything."

At that moment, Shye opened her bedroom door, dressed in her usual Goth garb: skin-tight leather trousers, a sheer, long-sleeved top over a black crop top, a spiked black vambrace on her left arm, a metal pendent of Ash's backpack symbol around her neck strung by a leather chord, a leather bracelet around her right wrist, her long black hair up in fluffy bunches high on her head and earrings with tiny pendents like the one around her neck. On her feet she wore a pair of black Converses.

Cherif handed Aimee the tray and help out his arms to Shye for a hug. She leapt into him, her arms around his neck, her face buried in his shoulder like a child. "Cherif," she mumbled. That's all she ever said - peoples' names instead of things like 'I love you'. She adored Cherif, that much was true, and she also had a weird thing where she would curl up with Remi whenever he napped during the day. It seemed she liked the only two unmated quads as much as the other.

"Hey, Shye," he chuckled, holding her tight. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and kissed his cheek. He felt a sizzle on the skin there as if her lips were on fire, followed by the expanding of a marking, a brand of some kind. It faded immediately because the first time Shye had done it, it hadn't left until Maman had ordered her to take it off because it made him look like an idiot. He liked it because, in a strange way, he thought it meant she loved him.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," he murmured. "We got you something to eat if you're hungry. You haven't been eating much lately."

She released him and looked up at Aimee with a smile, then grabbed the bearswan's wrist, eying the mating marking there with an eerie eye. Her eyes flipped to Aimee's. "Fang?" she whispered.

Aimee's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

Shye grinned and tapped her left temple. "Fang," she mused, then touched her heart. "Aimee." Her hand went to Aimee's heart and nodded before skipping away.

Cherif raised a brow at her behaviour and laughed. "She's eccentric but I love her," he mused, taking the tray into her room, then stopped dead.

There was a brand new laptop sitting on her bed, a charger plugged into the wall. On the desk was the touch-screen Apple computer that had just come out _and_ a new iPad. There was also a HD LCD TV on the table behind the door, surround sound system on the walls and a Sky+ box. The covers on her four-poster bed were brand new and black curtains were tied to the posts. The curtains next to the wall were drawn, blocking out the window. Candles sat around the room in various colours. The walls were black, the normal curtains drawn over the window, and a gilt mirror hung on the wall, painted dark red.

"Someone's been redecorating," Remi mused as he poked his head into the room. "Shye takes after Acheron in the style department."

Cherif ground his teeth and left the beingets and pralines on the nightstand with a glass of whisky and coke, her favourite combination of food. "Obviously...but how the hell did she get the money to pay for all this? And how did she do it without anyone hearing or smelling something?"

Remi shrugged. "She's special. You know that, Cherif. I'm going for a nap. If Shye starts looking for me, tell her I'm in my room asleep."

He didn't have enough time to tell anyone because Shye was already there, her arms around Remi's waist. "Rem-rem," she cooed softly, rubbing her cheek against him. "Remi."

He chuckled and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "I'm going for a lay down, Shye. Going to join me?"

She nodded twice, still snuggled against him. He smiled and rubbed her back. Cherif ground his teeth harder.

"Jealous, Cherif?" Aimee giggled as Remi and Shye entered the room beside hers.

"To be honest, I am a little," he mumbled. "I love that girl like my own life and she's hanging on to Remi all the time. Of course I'm jealous. What is it about Shye that keeps Remi so calm all the time? Everything she does seems to make him happier."

Remi awoke from his bear nap to Shye snuggled tight against his chest, her face peaceful. He knew she wasn't asleep when her eyes flipped up to his.

"Remi," she whispered, then kissed his cheek with those soft lips.

He sat up, dragging the duvet up over his hips to hide himself. "You okay?" he purred, stroking her hair back.

She nodded and licked his nose. He wrinkled it to make her smile and placed a gentle kiss on her mouth. Her giggle was the cutest sound.

"Remi," she laughed, kissing him back with half-parted lips.

He responded immediately, one hand winding into her hair, which had come loose during their rest, and the other cupping her shapely derriere. She made a little moaning noise in her throat and fisted his hair at the roots, her hips gyrating against his. She flinched when she felt his erection and pushed him back with a broken sob.

"Shye?" he murmured, stroking back her fringe. "What's the matter?"

She looked down at the tent in the duvet and bit her lip. "I can't."

He frowned. "Did you just say something other than a name?"

She shook her head. "Remi," she said in a quavering voice as she scrambled away from his hard-on. "Rem-rem..."

He bit his lip in turn. "I'm sorry, Shye," he breathed, trying to control both his temper and his body. "I forgot. I didn't mean to scare you."

A little noise left her lips as she crawled back over to him, her clothes melting into a black T-shirt and skinny jeans with the same jewelry and shoes. "Remi," she sighed, burying her face in his bare skin. "My Remi."

"My Shye," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her again. "I won't hurt you like that, Shyeanne. Ever. My Maman taught me better than that."

"Cherif!" Shye sang as she jogged into the bar in another Goth/grunge/emo outfit, looking around as he repaired a table in the corner.

He looked up and smiled at her, hugging her when she launched herself at him. "Hey, Shye," he chuckled, kissing her forehead. "Did you have a good sleep?"

She nodded and kissed his cheek before going to work in the kitchen with Remi. Her favourite thing to do was to cook with Remi. Before she had died, she absolutely _adored_ Cherise Gautier like a mother and her son Nick, who still frequented the bar, was forever playing pool with her. Sometimes she would lead him upstairs where they would do only Gods knew what in that bedroom of hers.

Cherif ground his teeth at the thought of anyone touching Shye in intimate ways when he knew exactly what she had been through.

"Remi?" Shye called as she walked into the kitchen to find him standing over a gumbo pot, stirring the contence. "Rem-Rem?"

He turned to her with a smile and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Hey, beautiful girl," he purred, stroking her back. "You okay?"

She nodded and hugged his free arm tight. She then stood up straight and grinned. "Gumbo?" she chirped.

He nodded. "You starting to say more than names?" he teased with a smile as she fitted herself with a hairnet.

She nodded. "Hot sauce?"

"Cupboard," he commented.

She grabbed the hot sauce and carefully cut various spices from the plants on the window sil. It was her special combination paste to put in the gumbo. Before grinding it together, she rinsed and dried her hand and put a CD into the stereo on the window sil above the sink. Diana Vickers's song _The Boy Who Murdered Love_ began to play and Shye's backside started moving from side to side as she ground the paste in the bowl. The song faded into Avril Lavigne's _Fall To Pieces_, which she sang along to, her voice shooting through him like an arrow.

He dropped a kiss on her neck and playfully nibbled her ear. "Love you, Shye," he purred. She was the only person he was _ever_ even-tempered with unless she truly peeved him off.

She turned to him and kissed those full lips. "Love you, Remi," she smiled, then got back to work. "Playing with the Howlers tonight."

"Oh, yeah, 'cause Tripper's playing guitar for most of the songs they need the keyboard on," he shrugged, chopping some chicken into pieces. "You should really be singing instead of Colt. You sound so much better than that jackass."

She giggled and bumped him with her hip, then spooned the paste into the gumbo. "Mean," she prodded and stirred the gumbo. She tasted it from the spoon and added some more hot sauce, then tasted it again and nodded. "Perfect. Simi taste."

"Too hot for the customers, eh?"

"Yeah. Simi, Tory and Ash coming tonight. Put gumbo aside, please?"

He nodded. "One condition."

She pouted. "What?"

Remi caught her close and whispered in her ear, "Kiss me again."

Her pout turned to a wide grin. "Definately," she purred and slanted her mouth over his, one hand on his cheek and the other limp on his chest. The little noise she made in her throat had him aching for her in an instant but he knew she hadn't made that leap yet and it scared her to death. Scared her so much he couldn't bring himself to even try.

"Omigod!"

They jerked apart at Aimee's voice and stared at her laughing in the doorway.

"Fuck off, Aimee," Remi snarled.

Shye glared and slapped his arm. "Shuddup."

Aimee laughed at them...hard. "Wow, Shye, you tamed the snarling Peltier werebear! I'm impressed. I didn't think there was a female alive who could tame _Remi_. But, then again, I thought that about Dev and he's mated to a Dark-Huntress."

"Aimee, get out," Remi growled.

She snickered. "I'm going, I'm going," she said, closing the door behind herself.

"Typical," Shye muttered, turning back to the mushrooms and onions she was about to mince.

Remi hugged her waist, his chin against her shoulder. "Shall we go to dinner tomorrow night?" he asked softly. "Maybe catch a movie, go for a walk through the French Quarter, whatever. Your choice."

She bit her lip as she chopped the vegetebles. "Movie, dinner, walk, back here to sleep?" she mused, turning her head up to nuzzle his cheek. "Sound good?"

"Very good," he purred, nibbling her ear lobe to give her goosebumps. She giggled and brushed his hair out of his eyes with those long fingers of hers. "You are so beautiful, y'know that, right?"

She frowned and went back to the chopping board. "Not pretty," she grumbled.

"To me, you're the most beautiful girl in the world," he said firmly. "I mean it, Shye. You are gorgeous and utterly sexy." He dragged a hand firmly over her tight derriere, at which she moaned softly. "You mean everything to me."

"Love you, Remi," she smiled, turning around to hug him tight. "Love you lots."

"I love you lots, too, my beautiful, sexy, loving Shyeanne."

"My Rem-rem."

He ran his hands up her sides suggestively, reaching to cup her lush, ripe breasts. She gave a sound between a gasp and a moan, tilting her head back against his shoulder.

"We can't do this here," she breathed. "I'm not ready."

He gave a growl and continued to massage her breasts, dragging little moans from her throat. "I am determined to make you mine, Shyeanne," he purred in an almost savage way. "I want to feel your entire naked body against mine. I want to give you the pleasure you so badly deserve. I want to mate with you until neither of us can walk without a limp. I want to wrap you up warm on winter nights and lay naked with you on top of the duvet in the summer. I want to love and care for you. Let me do all of that and I will be your eternal slave."

She startled when he moved one hand to the crotch of her jeans and tried to get away. He did something sinful with his hand and wetness flooded her channel. Panic overcame her and she teleported out of the kitchen to her bedroom where Cherif had left beingets, praulines and hot milk for her.

The milk was cold now but the praulines and beingets were still warm. Feeling guilty, she sat down on the bed and started devouring the sweets.

Meanwhile, Remi was fuming in the kitchen, cursing Shye with a vengence. He so fucking badly wanted to mate with her, to see if she truly was destined to be his because deep down, deep deep down, way down...there was something that screamed that she was The One. His destined mate. He was so in love with the eccentric little woman it was untrue.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_

Shye was disappointed that night as the full moon rose, glittering in the black of night. She was disappointed in herself because she didn't have the courage to love Remi the way he loved her. The way he wanted her as his mate.

Her chosen song tonight was _My Immortal_ by Evanescence. She'd always liked the song since she had first heard it and began singing:

_I'm so tired of being here  
Suppressed by all my childish fears  
I would give the very breath from my chest  
To give you all the things that my mind couldn't bear  
And if you have to leave  
I wish that you would just leave  
'cause your presence still lingers here  
And it won't leave me alone  
These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase_

Remi heard Shye's voice from his room next door and smiled slightly. It was a full moon and her time to sooth the animals and wereanimals of Sanctuary.

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have...all of me  
You used to captivate me  
By your resonating light  
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind  
Your face, it haunts  
My once pleasant dreams  
Your voice, it's chased away  
All the sanity in me_

Her voice still shot through him after all these years, made him feel whole. He was upset with himself for snarling at her but he had known fully well that she was not ready for the kind of mating bears did.

_I tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone  
But though you're still with me  
I've been alone all along  
These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase  
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have all of me_

He knew he was singing this song for him because he couldn't live without her. It was anyones guess if she felt the same way about him.

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have...all of me  
All of me  
All of me  
All..._

When the song ended, Shye got up from the window sil and went into Remi's room. She knew he was pretending to sleep since he always slept on his left side, facing the door, and he was on his back right now. She smiled and straddled his hips.

"I know you're awake," she murmured, kissing the centre of his naked chest.

Those celestial blue eyes opened to meet hers. "What do you want, Shye?" he said gruffly as if he was annoyed.

She placed a finger over his lips and smiled in that angellic way he loved. "No words," she whispered and kissed him deeply, her nails dragging sensually down his chest to make him shiver.

He couldn't believe it, Shye was here with him, dressed only in a sheer white teddy and a white pair of panties. Her hair was in those adorable bunches he loved on her, the dark waves of her silky hair brushing his skin. Her darker, erect nipples were plainly visable and utterly sexy.

He flipped them over so that she was beneath him and sank into her kiss again, groaning as she pressed herself tight against him, loving the way her nipples tickled his skin. "Gods, I want you, Shye," he growled, kissing her neck. "I want you so much."

She moaned softly as he moved down her body and lifted up the lace edge of the tiny nightie to reveal those little panties that covered the most precious part of her body. He could see how wet she was, the outline of her petite core against the white cotton. One finger stroked down her cleft, making her bite back a small cry. He chuckled softly and pulled the cotton aside.

Her crotch was utterly bare, achingly smooth as if no hair grew there at all. Her shell pink skin was swollen and glossy with her juices. Her clitoris twitched with anticipation.

"Don't wait," she groaned, cupping her own breasts through the teddy. "Don't wait, Remi, please!"

He laughed softly and delivered a long, slow lick up her slit, tasting her salty sweetness. She moaned loudly and clutched his head to her core, her fingers tangling in the strands there.

"Mmm..." he purred. "Best pussy I've ever tasted."

She gave him an agast look. "Please don't say things like that," she panted. "I want this to be special."

He smirked and leaned up to kiss her. She could taste herself on his tongue. "You _are_ special," he whispered, gently biting her lower lip. "Any time I'm with you and any time I'm not, you are always on my mind, Shye. I am in love with you."

Remi almost screamed as he awoke, finding himself with the erection of the decade. _Goddammit_, everything had felt so good, so real. He was willing to bet his life savings she would taste the same now...

He groaned aloud, almost crying with the need for a woman. For Shye.

"Remi?"

He sat bolt upright at Shye's voice as she entered his room dressed in grey trackies and a sports bra. "Hey, gorgeous," he smiled, nuzzling her cheek as she climbed into bed beside him.

She snuggled into his bare chest, her face peaceful as she fell back asleep. She still looked like a child when she slept.

He cuddled her tight, his cheek against her hair. "I wish you knew how much you mean to me," he breathed, pressing soft kisses against her cheek and neck. "I love you so much, Shye."

"_Sono innamorato di te, caro mio_," Shye mumbled in her sleep, snuggling against him. "_Mio _Remi. _Voglio fare l'amore con te...Non sono pronta. Mi dispiace._"

Italian? Whatever. Nobody had truly know where Shye came from and she spoke with the barest hint of an accent. Perhaps she had been taken from Italy and brought to the states? Or she had been brought up around Italians? Either way, it sounded like music from her lips, even if he couldn't speak it himself.

About eight hours later as the sun began to rise, he awoke to find Shye was no longer in his bed and panicked. She _never_ left his bed before he woke up!

"Shye?" he called stupidly.

She came through the door at that point with hot beignets on a plate in her hand and two cups of chicory coffee in the other. "Breakfast!" she grinned. "Baked them myself this morning. You hungry, baby?"

"Beignets? Hot damn!" he grinned, making space on the bed for them both and the beignets. "I love the way you cook these things with the burnt roux. Makes them real tasty."

She grinned and stuffed a whole beignet into her mouth. "Tasty," she agreed with a full mouth. "Wanna train in the swamp today?"

Remi frowned. "I didn't know you knew how to fight."

She nodded. "Never told you. Aikido, capoeira, goju ryu and the style of my kind. You'll soon see how our warriors are trained," she said proudly. "Special weapons only we can use, even if you manifest them."

He finally noticed how slight her accent was. He'd never really listened to the sound of her lilting voice as she spoke before. "You're Italian, aren't you?" he blurted.

She nodded. "Born in Venice. Stolen from my _madre_ and _padre_ when I was five. I don't want to go into what happened." She glanced at the markings on the backs of her hands. "Slave marks. _Colui che è stato acquistato dal sangue_. One who has been bought by blood."

He stroked her back gently. "Let finish breakfast and go," he murmured, playfully nibbling her ear.

She giggled and leaned up to kiss him deeply. "My Remi," she whispered, then swiftly straddled his hips. "_Ti voglio così male non mi fanno male_."

He grinned and cupped her backside in his hands, so badly wanting her to be willing to mate with him. To be his and only his. Slowly, he moved his hand up to cup her breast, gently rolling the hard nipple between his thumb and forefinger. She moaned, her back arching a little. He kissed her neck, biting the sweet spot a little harder than necessary but with enough force to make her shiver pleasently and gasp.

He laughed softly. "So responsive," he whispered, sucking her collar bone as he pulled the sports bra over her head. Her beautiful breasts were pale and the areolas a darker pink. He licked the left one with the tip of his tongue, loving the way she whimpered at the contact. His teeth gently bit her, pulling the nipple slightly so that she groaned in pain.

"Ouch," she breathed, her hands running into his long hair and fisting at the roots. "Remi...More."

He laughed low in his throat and bit her again, just a little harder than the first time. The little cry she made was lovely, especially when he worked on her right breast, giving it the same treatment as the left. God, this had to be a dream like last night! He was definately still asleep. But when her nails dug into his back almost hard enough to draw blood, he welcomed the reality of what he was doing with his precious Shye.

He pushed her jogging bottoms down past her derriere, feeling the softness of her as the panties came down with the pants. A little moan escaped her when his fingertips touched her hot, drenched core. She was utterly bare, achingly smooth all over her body.

But as soon as his erection hit her centre, her eyes went saucer wide and she flinched back. "Please, don't," she breathed, tears filling her eyes.

He frowned and gently stroked her face. "What's wrong?" he murmured. "What did you think I was going to do? If you're not comfortable with this, I'll stop. I promise I'll never force you."

She bit her lip. "You won't...you won't make me suck it?" she asked with shimmering eyes.

"Unless you want to," he shrugged. "But no, I won't make you suck me off. Only you can make the decition to suck me off or not. I'd really like you to but I don't want to push my luck by asking."

She smiled and kissed him, welcoming the feel of his erection at her centre. "Sorry."

He shook his head and stroked her thick, soft hair. "S'okay, cher. You obviously had a bad experience with this kind of thing before. I won't push you."

Her fingers found his hardness and stroked him gently. She frowned. "You're bigger than my owner was," she mused. "A _lot_ bigger."

"You know all the right things to say, Shye," he grinned as she toyed with him, her fingers light and smooth. He struggled not to force her hand into a fist so she could stroke him properly. "Come here. I want to show you something."

She obeyed and he gently laid her out on the bed, taking her trackies all the way off. Her curious look only spurred him on to spread her legs and devour her core with his eyes. "What are you doing?" she asked, frowning.

"Shh," he purred, tracing a circle around her navel. "Let me work, baby."

He licked her slowly, tasting her on his tongue as she gasped at the sensation, her back arching with her head thrown back into the pillow. He chuckled and parted her open with his thumbs, opening her flower so she could bloom when his lips sealed around her twitching clitoris. He sucked hard, his forefinger circling the place he would enter her. She was so wet already like she had taken an aphrodisiac or something and her high, regular cries let him know she was _loving_ this.

"Remi, I feel strange," she gasped, her voice tight and higher than usual. "What's wrong with me?"

He chuckled. "Tell me how you feel, Shye," he purred, kissing her thigh.

"Uh, I feel hot all over and I feel like I can't cool down. My skin's tingly and my breasts hurt a little and I can feel your mouth on me and it feels so good I don't want you to stop," she said with a slight waver to her voice. "Is something wrong with me?"

He shook his head and licked her again. She groaned his name, her body undulating. "You're turned on," he smiled. "All sexed up just for me." His fingers brushed her clit. "You're all hot and wet here, sensations you've never experienced before running all through you. Everything feels more alive and you feel like you're about to explode. Am I right?"

She managed a nod as he toyed with her mercilessly. "Yes, yes, you're right," she sobbed with pure need.

"Do you want to come?" he growled, his own body straining. "Do you want to have an orgasm for me?"

She screamed when he thrust two fingers inside her, using a scissoring motion to stretch her so it wouldn't be so painful. He sucked her clit at the same time, sending her into a tight, squealing orgasm. He kept moving his hand inside her, his mouth insistant on the small nub he loved caressing and sucking. She was swollen and glossy, her secret skin flushed with a darker tinge.

He laughed softly. "You've never been more beautiful than you are right now," he purred, moving up her body so he could kiss her deeply. "So beautiful."

She laughed breathlessly. "_Ti amo, tesoro mio_," she purred, stroking his face. "I love you, Remi."

"I love you, too, Shye," he grinned and suddenly thrust himself inside her.

She shrieked out briefly in both pain and shock. "Remi, what are you doing?" she asked him with round eyes as his hardness twitched inside her. She looked down at where their bodies were joined. "It...hurts."

He nuzzled her neck. "Relax, sweeting," he growled softly. "Let me make love to you."

She made a sound of realization. "Oh...you should've said something!" she giggled and kissed him. "But it _does_ hurt. A lot."

"I know, cher," he murmured, reaching down to rub her clit.

She moaned aloud and clenched around him. He got bigger inside her as was genetic for Were-Hunters and made her groan in both pleasure and pain.

"Does it always hurt like this?" she gasped.

"It's your first time," he said softly. "It's meant to hurt then but otherwise, you'll go out of your mind with pleasure. You'll bleed, too. That's your hymen breaking, what makes you not a virgin any more."

She bit her lip. "I'm glad you're my first," she whispered, tears in her eyes. "Gods, Remi, it _hurts_. You're so large inside me. It feels so good but it hurts so much."

He kept toying with her clit and very slowly moving his hips in and out of her. After a minute or so, she stopped gritting her teeth in pain and started moaning gently with the pleasure. He grinned like the animal inside him and moved a little faster, timing his strokes to her clit with the movement of his hips. She kept moaning and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him down so his chest crushed her full, ripe breasts.

"Mmm, so eager now," he chuckled.

She groaned softly. "More," she growled, wrapping her legs around his waist.

With all he had, Remi began to stroke harder, faster and deeper at the same time, hammering his hips against her almost viciously. However, it made her cries louder, her nails dig harder into his back. He echoed her cries with a low grunt punctuating each thrust.

When she came, she screamed from the sheer intensity of it, tightening around his length until she almost strangled him. He followed her a split second later, throwing his head back and roaring his pleasure. His climax lasted about three minutes, tops, his seed pouring into her as she came down on the afterglow.

"You are amazing," she murmured before he got the chance to tell her the same thing. Her long fingers toyed with his hair gently, stroking his long blond curls as if it was his fur.

He raised himself up on his elbows to kiss her deeply. "I love you so much, Shye."

She smiled, then cried out in pain, shaking her right hand. Remi felt a searing pain in his left, blowing cool air across it as a jet black, geometric marking sprawled on his palm.

"Oh, Gods," she whispered, staring at her palm. Her eyes flickered to Remi. "Do you...want me?"

"Always," he purred without hesitation, stroking the lines of her palm. "But only if you want me, too."

Her smile returned. "Give it a little time," she mused. "And I will mate with you, Remi Peltier."


	4. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three**_

Cherif knew there was something different about Shye the following evening by the fantastic vibrancy she bounced into the bar with. Her hair was down, touching her calves as she walked, and her eyes sparkled as she looked around the bar. She spotted him and jogged gracefully over with a wide grin.

"Cherif," she said softly, hugging him tightly. "So happy!"

He frowned. "And why are you happy, Shye? What did I do?"

She rolled her eyes and held up her marked palm. "I'm mated."

Gods, he instantly felt sick. Who was she mated to? Gods help him it if was Stone Blakemoor, who often met her in the back alley, or Colt, who she often played guitar with in her room. Other than those two, it could only be the other unmated quad...Remi.

"To who?" he asked, swallowing hard.

"Remi," she grinned and bounded away towards the bar where Simi, Tory and Acheron were sitting.

"Hey, Shye," Ash grinned. "You're happy today."

She showed him her palm. "Remi," she beamed as he examined it.

He clapped her on the arm. "Good choice - you, the tornado, gets with the volcano. Let's just hope the kids aren't as insane," he teased.

Shye giggled and hugged him tight. "I blame you for this!" she mused. "You brought me here. Without you, I wouldn't have met Remi until much later. I love you so much, Ash. You're just totally the best."

Tory coughed. "Shye, husband, mine," she smiled.

Shye turned on her with a tight hug. "You look after him, Tory," she told her pointedly. "'Cause if you don't, you'll have more than Apollymi on your butt."

Tory laughed. "Okay, I promise, Shye. But I'm doing a good job, I'd say," she teased before Shye skipped off like a little kid.

Remi stopped her as she went for the back room and twirled her around playfully, grinning. "Where are you going, beautiful?" he asked.

"To get my purse. Going shopping with Aimee, Lia and Bride. You wanna come?" she purred, leaning up to kiss him deeply.

He made a face. "Shopping with me? Didn't you tell me that was your worst nightmare?"

"Yeah, but I'll miss you otherwise," she pouted, her eyes round and innocent.

"Then you can call me every five minutes to make sure I still love you," he teased, nibbling her lower lip. "You know I hate shopping, baby. You go have fun with the girls, okay? I'll still be here when you get back."

She grinned. "If you weren't, I'd hunt you down."

"It's in your nature," he laughed and kissed her again. "Gods, I love you, Shye."

"I love you more, Remi." She carefully pulled his hair form the rubbed band. "I like your hair down. Keep it that way for me?"

He growled softly and rubbed his hips against hers erotically. She moaned softly and kissed him roughly before tearing herself away from him.

"I'm...What was I doing?" she frowned.

"Going shopping with Aimee, Lia and Bride," he answered, kissing her forehead. "Go have fun and buy a sexy outfit I can strip off you."

She smiled. "I'll drop into Tabitha Devereux's shop if we happen to go down Bourbon Street," she purred, pulling on her denim jacket and her Broken by Sprial bowling bag. She kissed him lightly. "I'll be back by the time the sun goes down. Behave for me."

"Baby, you're talking to a bad tempered bear," he purred, walking her to the door.

"I'm talking to _my_ bad tempered bear," she chuckled and went out of the door, leaving him to the obvious erection in his pants.

Shye had been waiting for ten minutes before Cherif came along wearing jeans and a fresh white T-shirt. She frowned at his prescence. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "Where are Lia, Aimee and Bride?"

He smiled. "I told them I'll go with you. Trace was sick through the night so Lia and Bride are worrying over him and Aimee wanted to spend time with the cubs. I don't mind shopping with you, unlike some bears I know."

She scowled. "Don't you dare insult my mate," she warned softly, threateningly. "'Cause you know what, Cherif? My kind always know when they've found their soul mate and I knew from the first time I saw him, even though he was angry at me. Most of the time I just through of him as an idiot bear who couldn't hold his temper but underneath he's kinder than most. I know you care deeply for me but your mate is out there somewhere, just waiting for you to come along and knock her up with a bunch of babies you'll both love and care for." She ran a hand though her hair. "Look, Cherif, I know Remi and I aren't exactly the perfect match but he makes me feel like I actually belong at Sanctuary and not with the broker I was sold to."

"Shye-"

She turned away from him and flipped him off. "I'll shop on my own," she snapped and disappeared into the crowd.

Cherif ground his teeth and sank into a back alley to flash back to the bar where Remi was talking to Dev.

"I'm pretty surprised you got mated to someone so pure and sweet," Dev was saying. "I thought your mate would be more like my Samia, someone whose temper matches your own like another volcano instead of a tornado like Shye."

Remi shrugged. "Yeah but, man, it feels so good to know that the female I love is pre-destined for me. She's still the same little girl who came here so long ago - she's just grown up and filled out to be so beautiful no girl could ever compare."

"She's a one-off, I'll give you that."

"I know but she's my one-off. You wouldn't believe how strongly I thought she'd be mated to Nick or Colt, or even worse, Cherif. That'd be competing with my own quad, you know?"

Cherif growled. "I would've been a better choice for the Fates to give her," he snarled at Remi. "Tripper, Colt, Stone Blakemoor...anyone would've been a better mate that you!"

Remi snarled. "It wasn't _my_ choice for Shye to be mated to me but I wouldn't have had it any other way! You love her as much as I do, Cherif, but in the end I was the one chosen for her, not you!"

Dev stepped between them before the fur could fly. "Down, bears," he snapped. "Cherif, if Shye wants Remi as her mate, there's no stopping her. Remi, Shye loves us all like brothers but you should know that she loves you because of that mark on your hand. Believe me, lots of others have tried to date her but you're the only success story. Quit being so defensive. Shye only wants to be with you the same way I only want to be with Sam, how Aimee wants Fang, Quinn and Rebecca, Fury and Lia, and Vane and Bride. You need to wake up because nobody will steal Shye from you. Not even Cherif 'cause if he really loves Shye he'll let her make her own choices." He looked at the other bear. "Won't you."

Cherif hesitated, then nodded. "I want Shye to be happy so I won't stop her from mating with you."

Remi growled and stalked off to Shye's room to just bask in her prescence and scent there. Dev shoved Cherif towards the bar before relieving Colt of bouncer duty.

Cherif just hoped Shye would change her mind.

Shye arrived back at Sanctuary with too many bags of shopping, some of which were balanced on top of a flat, rectangular box so she could barely see where she was going. Remi smiled, poking his head out of the kitchen as she struggled while drying his hands.

"Need some help?" he laughed, taking the box and the bags on top of it from her.

She smiled at him. "Thanks, baby," she chuckled and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "You wanna see what I got?"

"Once we've put them down, I'd love to," he mused, following her upstairs to her bedroom. Once in her room, he put the bads on the desk chair and the box on the bed. "Did you buy a sexy outfit?" he asked, eying the Pandora's Box bag intently.

She grinned and pulled a clothes hanger from the bag which held a racy red teddy with black straps and lace on the hem line. "You like?" she purred, caressing the silky body of it with a seductress's smile.

"Oh, I like more than I should," he grinned, toying with the ends of her hair. "What else is in the sex shop bag?"

She pulled out an assorted mix of flavored condoms, lubricant, nipple cream, pussy rubs, cock rings and... Remi blushed, actually blushed. "That isn't a butt plug, is it?" he asked, his cheeks flaming.

Shye held up the unopened packed. "What's wrong with that?" she frowned. "It's a treat for myself. I'm not jamming anything up your perfect ass."

He sighed in relief. "I thought you were getting _way_ too kinky then."

She giggled and handed him a small bag. "I got this for you."

He opened it to find a box sized for a ring or earrings, which he opened to find a plain gold band inside. Shye took it out for him and showed him the inscription on the inside. "_Ti amo_?" he mused.

"_Italiano_ for 'I love you'," she told him. "Will you wear it for me?"

"Always," he smiled, noticing the matching band around the ring finger of her left hand.

She tugged up another bad and showed him the clothes and jewelry she had bought, trying on the various lingere she had bought on Bourbon Street and in Ann Summers. The final item was a full body fishnet with only a single hole at her crotch (barring the arm, head and leg holes) which made Remi's raging hard-on even harder.

"Do you like this one?" she purred, using her arms as she bent towards him to make her breasts look fantastic. "Or doesn't it suit me?"

He leaned up to nip her bare neck. "It suits you more than the other lingere," he whispered in her ear, pulling her down to straddle his lap, one hand jerking his fly open so violently it ripped.

She laughed and gyrated against his aching hardness. "Are you still hungry for me even after all the positions you bent me into last night?" she gasped against his lips, fisting his hair, which he had kept down for her.

"Hell, yeah," he snarled, gripping her waist tightly. "Oh, Gods, Shye, take me."

Her laugh sounded again as she took him into her body, all the way to his hilt. He cupped her breasts and nibbled them through the fishnet material, making them dark red as she rode him. She was tight, hot, slick and beautiful all at the same time: her wetness was drenched with warmth and she was still virgin tight even after all the time they had spent making love the previous night, her jaw slack, her eyes wild with pure, barbaric need.

She was close but he was closer, his hips bucking and straining beneath her. He laughed and purred in her ear, "Come for me, Shye. Come for me."

She cried out, throwing her head back to expose her delicate throat and thrusting harder and faster, clenching harder around him. He roared and gripped her hips, forcing her to cease movement so he could pound her with all his might. She kept crying out as his own orgasm came to him, the madness of it making hers longer and more intense.

Finally, when neither of them could move, she flopped forwards onto his chest, panting softly while he came down from his three minute orgasm. She kissed his neck and snuggled against him, her hard nipples rubbing him through his T-shirt.

"I love you," she said in her most innocent tone.

He knew better. She was definately far from the innocent, silent girl he had known. This woman sitting on his cock was a vivacious, sexy vixen who had nothing but sex on her mind whenever she saw him. "I love you more," he purred, burying his face in her thick hair. "I like this outfit the best."

"I thought you would," she laughed, standing up even though she was full of thick cream. She relished the feel of it as it ran steadily down her thighs. Remi kept his bright blue eyes locked on her full breasts, wanting her again as she flashed out of the room to the bathroom.

He grinned and flashed himself in there as she ran a bath for herself - a bath big enough for ten people. "Mind if I join you?" he asked as she stripped off the fishnet suit.

She smiled up at him, blushing a dainty pink. "Sure. Just let me clean my groin up a little first. I really don't like leaving it there for too long. It was all crusty this morning where I didn't wash it off last night."

"Nice," he said sarcastically. "Needed to know that."

She rolled her eyes and used a wet flannel to wipe her crotch and thighs before throwing it in the wash bin. She turned off the water and got in, sinking down slowly while the goosebumps teased her nipples into hardness. She gave him a smile. "The water's really good," she murmured, beckoning him in with her eyes.

He yanked off his T-shirt, jeans, socks and trainers, his cock rigid, and sank in opposite her, their knees touching. "I was too busy looking at you to really mind," he mused.

She moved over to him and snuggled into the crook of his arm, curling one ankle around his. Her eyes were closed as she breathed deeply and easily against him. "You know, I used to talk about stuff like this to Mama Lo," she mused. "About the most romantic things Aubert did for her and what I would want to do when I found someone. This was on that list - laying in a hot bath and snuggling. It was always one of my favourite ideas."

"And what were the other romantic thoughts?" he asked, getting ready to take mental notes.

"Top of the list was being serenaded in front of a big crowd with my favourite song, next one down was a picnic in a lush green field surrounded by flowers. Third was usually this moment. Forth was going back to Venice for a long weekend so I could see my family again, tell them I'm alive. Fifth was probably rose petals on the bed, scented candles burning, with my soul mate down on one knee, asking me to marry him but that one changed slightly when I started feeling a lover's love for you instead of a sister's love. I felt that going through the Were-Hunter mating ceremony would be both more natural and more romantic," she explained, all the while playing with a stray lock of hair on his shoulder.

He grinned. Now he was totally going to do what she thought was romantic. This was going to be fun, trying to make her want him even more. "Sounds good to me," he said, mostly to himself. "That said, how about we go out for a picnic tomorrow afternoon? I'll steal some beignets and praulines from the kitchen, buy some champange, maybe take some of those flavoured condoms if you like. I was thinking about for Saturday but I managed to get Alain to get Serre to fill in for tomorrow."

She smiled. "I'd love that," she purred, rubbing herself against him, kissing his neck with tiny bites here and there. "Have you ever done it in water?"

"No but there's a first time for everything," he grinned as she pulled him on top of her.

She giggled and wrapped her legs around his waist. "Always."


	5. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four**_

Shye knew something was wrong when midnight came around and she was still awake. Usually when she slept with Remi, she would be asleep in an instant. Tonight after several long, luxurious hours making love, she was tired but couldn't sleep.

She went to her room and found a familiar face there, examining the contense of her desk. "What are you doing here, Sakaan?" she snapped.

He turned to her. Even in his true form he had a strange magnetism. "Princess," he greeted her. "I haven't seen you since Kieron took you from my Master. How are you these days?"

She scowled. "Better knowing none of you can touch me in New Orleans. With the prescence of the Dark-Hunters, Dream-Hunters, Were-Hunters, Acheron, Tory, the Charonte demons, and the occassional prescence of the Gods...I can see why you all avoid this place." She snatched her hairbrush from him and replaced it on her desk. "If any of them catch you here-"

"Easy, Princess," he purred, patting her shoulder. "I'm not going to get caught. I escaped for an hour to see if you were still alive after all these years. I followed your age old essense here and to find you in bed with an Arcadian?" He tutted. "What a bad girl you've been but I suppose the Master would enjoy you a little more now."

She instantly felt sick. She was never going back there, never, so help her, she would kill anyone who tried to make her go. "You're going to die if you even consider taking me back there," she snarled.

Sakkan laughed darkly. "No, but I can do this." He caught her arm and pressed a syringe filled with a dark liquid into her arm. "Come back or I can make your life so hellish you'll think London was _paradise_ in comparison."

Her eyes went wide. It was rare for Unech, the broker who had stolen her, to send his blood to an enemy to make them insane enough to commit suicide, to beg people to kill them. With her bloodline and that dirty blood in her system, she couldn't even think about what may happen to her.

Tears filled her eyes. "At least let me say goodbye," she whispered, pleading with her eyes. "I'm mated to an Arcadian. I have to at least say goodbye to him."

He shook his head. "Now or you get the injection," he spat.

She sobbed softly. "I love him. Doesn't that mean anything to a bastard like you?" she spat.

"It does," he murmured. "If you remember correctly. I told you about my wife once. To get to me as his slave, he injected her. He then cured her after wiping her memories of me and made her one of his concubines to spite me. Don't make him force that kind of pain on you and come quietly, Anira, I beg you."

He took the needle from her arm and vaporised it in his palm. She sobbed as he embraced her and flashed them back to Unech's harem.

Unech smiled cruelly as Sakaan entered his room with the Princess Anira, tears streaking her lovely face. "Good work, Sakaan," he beamed. "This must have been tricky for you to accomplish."

Sakaan shook his head. "She is mated to an Arcadian Bear whose brother is the Katagari Ursulan Grand Regis, Master. The hard part was getting in undetected. The Princess complied when I threatened her mate."

Unech laughed boyishly. "Very good." He motioned for Shye to come forwards. She obeyed, her hands shaking, her entire body sweating the stink of fear and disgust. He tilted her chin up and groped her breast hard. She drew in a gasp of pain and closed her eyes tight. "Hmm...Well well well, Princess, aren't you a pretty one. You grew up to have the figure of Helen of Troy. Aren't you a lucky one!" he laughed, his hand curling around her throat.

"Please don't hurt me," she whispered, her voice so vaunerable he actually felt pity for her.

He yanked her onto the bed and tore her jeans and T-shirt away, amiring her as she lay in the sheets, his snake minions keeping her arms and legs pinned down. Even in the lavender bra and thong she wore, she was a dazzling creature, so much more beautiful and much firmer than his other concubines. The fact she was a true blooded royal made her body even sweeter to sample.

He undid her bra and slid off her thong while she sobbed, tears streaking her face. His hard-on raged as he forced his way inside her and started raping her. The screams she made made it even better.

"Someone get her the drug," he spat once he had pulled out and shoved himself into her untouched surrogate hole to make her scream louder.

A servant turned up with a box of pills and handed several to Unech, who shoved them into Shye's mouth. "Swallow," he ordered her, keeping his hand over her mouth and his other pinching her nose.

She tried hard not to but disobeying Unech would mean beatings and rapings by more men. The drug he made her swallow would put her in a trance that lasted for days and made her forget all of her worries. She made a show of swallowing them and when he took his hands from her face, she turned her head into the sheets to spit them out.

He made her face him and shunted his cock into her mouth, forcing her to swallow him as he came. It was the worst thing she could think of happening.

Remi had shown her many times that making love was a sacred thing between a man and woman who loved each other the way they did and Unech had now shattered that. She wanted Remi to hold her once they had both climaxed, to fall asleep with her, to wake up to him kissing her back and shouders...to feel the love she felt around him. All she wanted was for Remi to help her.

"Shye?" Remi groaned as he awoke to find she was gone. "Shye?" He frowned and flashed a pair of jeans onto his body so he could look for her.

Cherif met him in the hall. "Have you seen Shye?" he demanded of his quad.

Cherif frowned. "No. Nobody has since last night. Check her room."

Remi knocked on Shye's bedroom door and opened it. She wasn't there. Even the room wasn't there. Everything of Shye's had vanished as if she hadn't been there at all.

"She's gone," he breathed, tears filling his eyes as he entered her room. "She...left me." His temper raged inside him. His arms and legs acted of their own accord, smashing everything in the room that was there before Shye had redecorated. "Shye!" he yelled at the ceiling. "_Shye!_"

Cherif watched Remi's anguish and began crying himself. Shye had gone. That was it...she had left. Why he couldn't understand. She had loved Remi and had been so happy that they were mated. She enjoyed being at Sanctuary, loved being around people she knew and those she didn't. What had made her change? Where had she gone?

That night, Remi slept in Shye's wrecked bedroom, her scent still permeating the air around him. He had cried until he fell asleep and dreamed of her face.

"Remi?"

He turned in his dream to find her standing there in a harem outfit, her face streaked with tears. "Shye?" he breathed, running to her and kissing her deeply. "Oh, Gods, Shye."

She held him tight, sobbing. "Please, Remi, I don't have much time," she said softly, faintly. "The man Acheron got me away from kidnapped me last night. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, and I love you. I love you so much. London, is where he has me. Go to a club called the Bloody Rose and ask at the bar for a guy named Kaan. Ask him about me and say that I liked red roses. He'll understand and bring you to Unech's harem under the club. Please, promise me you'll save me."

He nodded and kissed her again. "I promise I'll save you, Shye. I love you more than anyone ever could lover another. I'll bring the others."

"No!" she cried, clinging to him. "Only bring those who are unmated. They can sense if you're mated but not if you're bonded. We're not yet bonded so you won't be scented. Please...help me..." Her image faded even as her nails left a deep gash in his arm.

He jerked awake in a shock at the pain and looked down at his bleeding arm. "She's alive," he breathed. "Thank you, Fates! She's alive!" Then he frowned at his arm. "But how...?"

"You contacted your mate, didn't you?" Unech spat as Shye walked into his bedroom dressed in the revealing latex outfit he demanded she wore. "You used your powers when you know it is forbidden, Anira, and yet you choose to disobey me."

She narrowed her eyes on him. "That's because I'm not the scared little girl who you forced to give you head, you cruel, masochistic bastard," she growled. "And my name is no longer Princess Anira. It's Shyeanne LeAngellette, the name I've lived by for most of my life. I've revoked my royal blood because of the pain the memories of being here caused me." She laughed softly. "You know that my mate will come for me. You know he will take me away from here and kill you for what you have done."

He shoved her against the wall and forced his fingers inside her painfully. "This, this right here," he snarled, flexing his fingers inside her. "This right here is mine, you fucking cunt. I made you the beautiful mistriss you are today, not that fucking bear."

She laughed pitilessly. "He will come for me," she smiled. "He'll take me away from here. You'll die. Everyone you've enslaved will be free. And that's what burns, isn't it? That you'll be killed by an Arcadian bear whose powers are much greater than your own."

He slapped her hard enough for her to cut her head on the bar. He kicked her in the ribs and shouted for his guards. "Put her in the dungeon until I feel she is ready to be released."


	6. Chapter 5

_**Chapter Five**_

Remi flashed himself to where he felt Shye's anguished prescence and found himself in a sexual dungeon with women being raped and tortured in every cell by their guards. When he found Shye, he looked through the bars to find her cowering in a corner, her knees up to her chest, a cut on her head streaming blood and her naked body bloody and bruised. He used his powers to open the lock and shut them both in there.

Shye didn't look up until he touched her shouder, her eyes round with fear and bloodshot. "R-Remi..." she breathed, her eyes filled with tears.

He bit his lip and kissed her forehead. "I'm going to get you out of here, sweetheart, okay?" he murmured. "You are not going to be hurt any more. Cherif, Cody, Kyle, Serre and Etienne are upstairs beating back the guards. The others are coming with reinforcements from Ash, Savitar, Tory, Takeshi, ZT and the Charonte demons. I promise, you're safe with me."

She clung to his neck. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"You've got nothing to be sorry for, Shye," he told her and flashed them back to Peltier House's bathroom. He grabbed a wet cloth and started cleaning her bloody wounds.

She hissed when he touched the deeper ones and started sobbing in pain and anguish. It was hard for her to deal with being taken again and violated worse than before. It was all she could do not to go away somewhere and kill herself just to be rid of the memories.

Remi kissed her unmarked shoulder lightly; she flinched. He moved around to her front. "Shye, I'm not that disgusting bastard who hurt you," he said firmly. "I will never force you. I will never force drugs down your throat. I will stand by your side for the rest of our lives even if you choose not to mate with me. I couldn't care less if you did or didn't but I'd prefer not to never get an erection again."

She sniffled and swiped at her tears. "I need-I need a bath," she spluttered, turning around to turn on the water with a towel around her. "P-please, Remi, I need some time alone."

He shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere, Shye. What are you going to do if one of those fuckers comes back?" he snapped. "I promise to protect you so I'm staying in here to protect you."

She shook her head. "I need time _alone_," she stressed. "Please, Remi."

"Shye, if you want to take your true form to heal your wounds, you can go right ahead," he told her firmly. "I don't care if you think yourself ugly in that form but to me, you're beautiful no matter what you look like."

She took a deep breath and held it as lime green scales overtook her soft, pale skin. Her legs fused together and became a tail about three metres long with poisonous spines on them with an elegant fishtail at the end. Her hair changed to a sea green colour, knotting into longer spines a lot like dreadlocks but closing to a point. Her eyes became larger, her nose flattening into just a pair of slits on her face. A lipless hole became her mouth and, as the towel fell away from her body, her nipples became the colour of the sea over sand, a cross between brown and green.

He couldn't help but stare. This form was ugly and yet it was utterly glorious. He loved it, loved her.

She tried to hide her face but he stopped her. "Don't hide from me," he murmured, holding her scaled face between his hands. "Don't ever hide yourself from me in any form, Shye. You are beautiful, even like this and I've never seen a woman with such a sexy scaley butt."

She laughed, the sound like seagulls. "Remi, this is no longer who I am," she told him.

"But you are still beautiful," he whispered, kissing her mouth. Her scales tasted of sea water and she smelled like the ocean air. "So damn beautiful." He eyed her body greedily, the chuckled. "Hold on - how does your kind mate like this?"

She bit her lip with a fang and turned around to bend over. Her glossy core was only there when she bent over, tinted blue with the different colour of her fluid. "Like this," she murmured. "In this form, I don't think it's too pleasurable because females don't have a clitoris or a G-spot." She turned back to him, straightening. "Can I take human form now? Being in this form makes me feel dirty."

He shrugged. "I just wanted to see it. Nobody's stopping you from turning back."

The process of becoming human was faster than becoming a mermaid-like creature. She was human again in no time at all and turning off the bath water. She slid into the hot tub and submerged herself for a full minute before returning to the surface, not even out of breath.

"Can you breath under water in human form?" Remi asked, frowning.

She nodded. "A little but only or a maximum of five minutes or so before we need air again. Our lungs are different. We have extra air pockets so a deeper breath means more time under water. I was raised in the waterways of Venice but I took human form to play with the human children almost every day until I was stolen by a broker. Unech bought me and turned me into his bitch. A good friend got me out and took me to Acheron, who brought me to you." She sighed. "To be honest, the only thing I would leave out of my past is all the horror and violence from when I was a child. If none of it had happened, I would've found you another way. Fate works in mysterious ways like that."

He knelt beside the bath tub, his chin on his folded arms. "You know, Shye, I wish you never had to go through all that pain. But if you hadn't, you wouldn't be Shyeanne LeAngellette and not whoever you were before."

"My name was Anira," she admitted. "I hate the name because it means love and I've had everything but that until you." She shifted around to pull his T-shirt over his head and unbuttoned his fly. "Join me?"

He kissed her lightly. "Always," he murmured, shrugging out of his jeans and trainers to get in opposite her.

She scowled at him. "Get your gorgeous ass over here and hug me," she snapped playfully with a little smile.

He grinned and shifted around so she could tuck herself against his body, one arm around her for comfort. "I love holding you like this," he mused. "I never thought I'd be so snuggly with my mate. Or so protective. Even if you piss me off, I don't feel like lashing out at anything. It's like you have a calming effect on me and I can't do anything about it."

"It's the scent my skin give off," she said softly. "Even in human form, we have a distinct scent that calms people even if they aren't close enough to smell it. It's why my race is so docile - we calm each other with the scent."

"And what else can you do?"

"We can communicate through our dreams and leave physical markings in those dreams like I did with you. In human form, we can summon wings like a bird's to fly from danger if there are no waterways around. Our hair and nails are much tougher than even a god's. It's hard to break our skin without steel or silver which is why we use a special kind of lightweight chain to fight. It had seriously sharp barbs on its entire length to make them lethal with each hit. Enhanced speed, strength, endurance and senses are some of quirks to it, too." She grinned michieviously. "And the heightened sense of touch _always_ feels good in bed."

He laughed softly and held up his marked hand. He moved her hand so he could compare them. "I'm glad they're black."

"My favourite colour," she grinned. "They look like bear heads with a barb on their noses."

He traced the picture she saw on her hand. "You're right."

She giggled. "I usually am." She kissed his shoulder. "Shall we go out tomorrow? I need some retail therapy and who better to protect me than you?"

He groaned. "Not more shopping."

"C'mon, I need it. Plus you can tell me what I do and don't look good in. I'll throw in a steamy hookup in the dressing room if you're interested."

"Fine," he laughed, leaning down to nuzzle her neck. "I'm glad the hot water is making you feel better."

She shrugged. "I ache, I'm horribly sore and I've got lashes healing on my back. I've bled much worse than I did last night. To be honest, besides all the sexual stuff and the beatings, I was better off with Unech than with my parents. At least there...I actually had food I could eat at any time. For royalty with my race, we have to be the very epitome of edurance, strength and stubbonness. I was never like my parents in any way but looks."

He stroked her hair. "Shye can I ask you something?"

She nodded. "Anything," she whispered.

"Will you mate with me? Soon?"

Her radient smile made his heart - and his cock - tighten. "Why wouldn't I mate with you?" she murmured, touching his lips. "You're the only male I could ever feel so deeply for anyway and I guess I don't want to leave you impotent 'cause where would the fun be in that?"

He kissed her lightly. "I'd rather be able to have sex than never get hard again and speaking of hard..."

Shye bit her lip. "I'd rather not while I'm healing, Remi. I don't feel I have both the energy and I need a little time."

A whimper escaped him. "I understand but-"

His complaint was cut off in the next instant by Shye's delicate hand wrapping around his aching hardness. She wore the smile of a seductress as she slowly stroked him from base to tip. He groaned at the way her taunting hand gripped him so tightly and rode him so smoothly. Her little laugh as he fisted the ends of her hair shot through him like an arrow.

"I think you like what I'm doing, Remi. Do you like what I'm doing to you?" she purred, leaning up to suck his neck. She chuckled when she knew he was close and dove underwater, to suck him into her mouth, her hand still pumping in a fist around him. As he came, she swallowed down everything he had to offer, never ceasing in her strokes.

A moment later, she moved up to cuddle him, kneeling between his legs. He whispered to her in French, stroking her back. "I love you," he murmured. "Gods, Shye, I love you so much."

"I love you more," she said, closing her eyes and falling asleep against him in the tub.

"I'm never letting go," he whispered, holding her hand against his chest. "Not for a single moment."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Shye awoke early the following morning in her beautiful Remi's arms and smiled. He was drooling, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. "So cute," she whispered, kissing his forehead before getting up and pulling on a pair of his boxers and a T-shirt, also his, just so she could have his scent all over her.

"Where're you goin'?" he mumbled when she opened the door.

She leaned down to kiss him deeply. "I'm going to do some breakfast. You want some?"

"Yeah, I'll be down in a bit. Wait for me in the bar, 'kay?" he mumbled, still knackered. Bless him.

"I will, I promise," she giggled and closed the door behind herself. When she got down into the bar, she found Cherif cleaning glasses behind the bar as the Howlers practised onstage. She crept up behind him and tickled his ribs. He jerked with a little yelp and turned to her with a dark look.

"That's not funny," he snapped as she giggled.

"Sorry, Cherif," she smiled like the angel she was and leaned up to kiss his cheek on her tiptoes. "Love you."

Her words warmed his heart and he hugged her tight. "Love you, too, baby." He kissed her hair. "I don't care if you're mated to Remi 'cause you'll always be my Shye."

She grinned wider, pulling away. "Going to make breakfast. You want some?"

"Depends on what's cooking."

"Okey-dokey," she chirped, skipping away like a fairy princess.

"You are one lucky bastard, Remi," Cherif muttered.

"I know," his brother smirked, coming in and leaning against the bar. "I love that girl like my own life."

"Plus, she cooks."

"And fucks like a porn star."

Cherif saw red, glowering at Remi with pure venom. "Don't talk about her like that," he spat.

Remi raised a brow. "Why are you so adverse to me and Shye being destined for each other?" he snapped. "I know everyone here loves her to pieces but she and I both want each other as mates. It's not something I can control but I'd rather just have Shye than be impotent. I love her more than anyone can even think so don't tell me how to and how not to talk to her."

Before Cherif could launch himself at Remi, Shye skipped back in with a tray of hot beignets, chicory coffee, praulines, three large bowls of gumbo and a tall glass of milk. "Break...fast," she smiled, then frowned. "You two have been arguing."

Remi came over and took the tray from her. "Cherif seems to think you and I aren't a good match," he admitted, giving his double a dirty look. "Will you please tell him you are okay with mating with me?"

Shye scowled at Cherif and managed to stare down at him even though she was absolutely dinky. "I am happy with Remi, Cherif. Why can't you be happy for me? I love him and, yes, I know he think's I'm a good fuck because he's told me in a long list of what he likes about me to boost my confidence after what that fucking broker did to me. Don't you _dare_ tell me he's not a good match for me," she seethed through her teeth, her eyes flaming. "You may be like a brother to me, Cherif, but I am in love with Remi so get over it."

He narrowed his eyes on her. "Yeah, there's the rub, eh? You've known how I feel about you for a very long time and yet you didn't do anything about it."

"Because it didn't feel right for me," she snapped, tears filling her eyes. "I don't know how you can say you're in fucking love with me when I've barely said three words to you since I came here! I don't know why but Remi and I connect on some level I've never, _ever_, experienced before. You need to grow up and stop hurting whoever doesn't accept what you want them to. God, I swear Etienne gets his lying-to-get-what-I-want streak from you and not Remi!"

She turned away from him and fled up the stairs, muffling her sobs with her sleeve. Remi glowered at Cherif with a menace not far from true hatred. "If you make her cry again, there's nothing anyone or the Gods can do to stop me from tearing you limb from limb," he spat and took the tray upstairs to Shye's room where she sat on the window sil.

"Shye?" he murmured, going in and putting their breakfast on the desk. She didn't look up. "Shye, baby, are you alright?"

She sniffled and shook her head. "What is wrong with me, Rem?" she whispered. "Why do I cause conflict without meaning to?"

He knelt on her bed and pressed his cheek against her upper arm, breathing in her calming scent. "It's not your fault, Shye, I promise. It's just Cherif being a fuckwit. If he ever speaks to you in that way again, I swear I'll-"

"You'll ignore him," she snapped. "I am in love with you, Remi, but Cherif is like a brother to me and I don't like him being upset the same way Aimee doesn't want any of her brothers to feel sad. If he speaks to me badly, I'll kick him in the nuts."

He made a face of sympathy. "Remind me never to piss you off."

"I can't garantee that," she smiled sweetly, sliding onto the bed and pushing him down onto his back.

With a thought, their clothes were gone and she was straddling his hips with those beautiful thighs, her hands clasped against his. With a cheeky grin, she released his unmarked hand and used it to stand his raging hard-on up so she could press him into her. He threw his head back with a soft gasp, his mouth hanging open. Her moan as she took him all the way to his hilt was the sexiest thing he had ever heard.

She tightened her grip on his marked hand. "I accept you as you are and I will always hold you close in my heart," she whispered. "I will walk beside you forever."

He arched beneath her, wanting to thrust up to meet her but that wasn't part of the ritual. Restraining himself to the point of pain, he repeated the words to her and lurched as the thirio began so abruptly all he could do was growl as his cock hardened even further, his fangs lengthening.

"Shye?" he lisped through his teeth, staring up at her as if she were an angel. "Do you want to?"

She nodded and leaned down, offering him her neck. "I do," she whispered, then he struck.

His fangs slid in deep, hurting but pleasuring at the same time. Her hips bucked, grinding against him so his hardness tickled her G-spot, her wet clit rubbing his pelvis. The soft cries coming from her were so magical he found himself climaxing so hard his erection kicked inside of her. She cried out as her own teeth lengthened and he let the wound close. She attacked his neck with the same fever as he had hers, palming the back of his head so she could feel his thick, soft hair between her fingers. Her own orgasm came out of nowhere, wrenching her into a mewling bend of her body.

When she released him and the bite closed, she kissed him deeply enough to touch his soul. She collapsed on top of him, nuzzling his neck with open-mouthed kisses. "You have no idea how much I enjoyed that," she purred, looking up at him through her mile-long lashes.

He ran a rough hand over her back, palming her backside. "I think I have a general idea," he murmured, grateful his fangs were gone. "I love you so much, my precious mate."

She beamed and rubbed her cheek against him like a cat wanting attention. He obliged her, sitting up and placing her small body between his legs. His large hands gripped her shoulders and moved along her skin sensually, soothing her tense muscles. A moan of relaxation left her lips when his thumbs dug into a sensitive spot.

"Oh, Gods, that's good," she groaned, arching her back. "I could go to sleep here and now."

"Don't," he whispered in her ear, nibbling the lobe. "I plan to have my way with you again."

She shivered in anticipation. "I look forward to it but we both have work in, like, five minutes and we need to get cleaned up."

He shook his head. "Fuck it," he laughed. "Fuck work."

Shye's face turned positively cunning. "Fuck work? Why not fuck _at_ work?" she purred. "Nobody comes in the kitchen if we lock the doors and windows but keep on cooking."

He grinned evilly. "That is the best thing I've heard all week."

"But it'll be a bit tricky...Let's just take sickies, say I have a headache and you want to wait on me hand and foot," she smirked, looking over her shoulder at him. "Seems foolproof, doesn't it?"

He nuzzled her neck. "_Je t'aime, mon ange_," he murmured, cupping her breasts. "_Tu as un beau corps, de beaux yeux, une belle personnalit__é_."

She gave a throaty laugh at his French crooning. "_Bel figo, hai un bel sorriso, gli occhi belli, le mani belle. Sono innamorato di te. Penso che stiamo bene insieme_."

"What the fuck?" he frowned.

"You first," she teased. "But to be honest, I don't care what you said because I love the sound of you talking to me in French."

"And I love your Italian," he grinned, reaching down to stroke her soaked core. She shivered pleasently and playfully bit his jaw. "I love you so much, Shye."

"I know. I love you, too, Remi."


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"Love you."

Remi smiled to himself as Shye mumbled those two sweet words in her sleep. She was so tired, bless her. He stroked her hair as her head rested on his chest, her lashes down against her cheeks. Gods, she had such a beautiful body - he could see why Cherif wanted her. There was no doubt in his mind that Shyeanne Le Angellette was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

"Remi?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she awoke.

"It's me, Shye," he whispered, kissing her palm.

She nuzzled his cheek, her legs tangled with his. "Breakfast?" she smiled, her eyes still closed. "Hungry."

He laughed softly and got up, flashing a pair of jean onto his body. He kissed her hair and left the room for the kitchen. Cherif was already there peeling potatoes.

"We good?" Remi asked, pulling out some bowls and tipping in leftover gumbo.

"We'll never be good until I find my mate so I can forget how much I wanted Shye for my own," he said in a broken voice. "Did you do it on purpose just to spite me or something, Rem? Did you think that if I'd been her first, I would've been mated to her instead?"

Remi took a deep breath to try and stay calm, even though his temper was flaring. He drew Shye's scent from his own skin to cool down. "If Shye and I are meant for each other, Cherif, then you need to accept it. We are bonded mates and-"

His brother had him against the wall in the next instant, snarling in Remi's face. "_You bonded with her?_" Cherif roared. "_You BONDED with Shye? How DARE you!_"

Remi punched him in the jaw; his hold broke. "She wanted to," he spat. "I did as she asked because I love her and I want to be with her for the rest of my days and if I died, she wouldn't have to be alone for the rest of her life. She told me we would go to the Elysian Fields or Tartarus - whichever - together because she loves me back, Cherif, and you have to accept that."

The untamed fury in Cherif's eyes was feral, animalistic. "_Shye was mine until you slept with her!_" he shouted, sobbing. "_Gods damn you, Remi Peltier, I loved her!_"

Suddenly, a glass-cracking screech entered the room, causing both of the werebears to cover their ears in agony. They both caught sight of Shye standing in the doorway, her mouth wide open, eyes wild. She stopped finally and glowered at them. "You" - she pointed at Remi - "are out of my bed tonight. And you" - her finger turned to Cherif - "dammit, Cherif, you know better. I know I'm not Mama Lo but I can still tell you what the hell to do. Neither of you are to fight or no nookie for Remi and no hugs for Cherif. Got it?"

Remi nodded quickly and stood, grabbing a plate of beignets from the side. She took them from him with a shit-eating grin. "Thank you," she smiled, then kissed him. "No fighting and I mean it. I'll tell the others that if they see you fighting to warn you both of what I said."

He purred for her and nuzzled her sensitive neck. "No more fighting, cher," he murmured. "Promise. Will you forgive me if I go shopping with you later?"

She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes on him. "I'll think about it. Upstairs, breakfast, first thing."

He grinned and looked back at Cherif. "No more fighting," he said as if in a daze and ran after Shye, who started giggling when he got his hands on her.

Cherif bit his lip, tears filling his eyes. How could Shye be in love with that cruel asshole?

"I can give you a way out of that."

He span around at the demonic voice to find a greasy-haired, yellow-eyed demon standing there in a high-end suit. "Who are you?" Cherif snarled.

The demon smirked. "I am Unech, demon broker. You, Cherif Peltier, want exactly what I want."

Cherif felt sick. This was the demon who had hurt and abused his beautiful Shye! "I don't want anything from you, you sick bastard," he snarled.

Unech smiled cruelly. "You'll give me what I want, Peltier. I know you will." He took a syringe from his pocket and uncapped it. The liquid inside was like thick black sludge.

Before Cherif could blink, Unech had plugged him in the neck with it and pushed the plunger down. Cold terror washed through him. What the fuck was in that syringe?

"My blood is going to do the dirty work," the bastard laughed and disappeared.

Cherif felt it in his body, pouring through him like some kind of sickness, polluting his entire system in just one minute. What was in that creature's blood that made him able to make a Peltier feel like this?

A few minutes later, Shye came rushing into the kitchen with tears streaking her face, Remi close behind. "Cherif!" she cried, grabbing a cloth and holding it to the entrance site of the needle. "Oh, Gods, no!"

"What's going on?" Remi asked, kneeling beside her on the cold, hard floor.

"Unech," she breathed. "He injected Cherif with his blood. It will make him go insane. I know why he has done this - to make me go back."

"That sick fuck," he snarled, gripping Cherif's hand. "Shit, brother, I never thought it would come to something like this."

Shye sobbed uncontrollably, putting pressure on the wound. "Fight it, Cherif, please, fight it," she cried, holding his hand tight enough for his fingertips to turn blue. She released his hand and put her mouth to the wound to suck strongly, drawing out the poison. She spat the black tar out and looked at Remi. "Go get Carson before I spit acid at you!" she snarled viciously and he honestly believed she would.

Shye _always_ made good on her threats. It was a proven fact since she threatened to stab Dev about a week ago if he kept pestering her about doing the cooking for Thanksgiving and she stabbed him in the thigh, much to Samia's anger. Shye had even beaten back the psychotic Amazon Dark-Huntress, for crying out loud.

As Remi left to rouse Carson from his bed, Shye kept sucking out the poison. The darkness and fear in Cherif's eyes slowly faded as her mouth sucked stronger, spitting the poison onto the floor. His breathing was harsh and labored, his limbs twitching uncontrollably. As the last drop of poison came out and hit Shye in the back of the throat, she made the worst mistake of her entire life.

She swallowed.

The poison ran down her throat, infecting her in a worst way than it was going to infect Cherif before. There was no way to get it out of her system unless she summoned Acheron, who would have at least some idea on how to draw it out as an all-powerful god who had lived for eleven thousand years.

All the warmth left her body as she fell backwards like a deadweight, her breathing raspy and harsh. It was like darkness itself was consuming her soul. She had felt this once before when Unech had forced her to drink from him before. The only way she had fought it off was with the help of dialysis. But since the poison ran in her veins, it made her voice box swell, making her incapable of speech. How she wished Carson knew sign language.

"Shye!" Cherif screamed at her, shaking her violently enough to make her bones rattle. "Snap out of it, Shye!"

Remi came skidding in with Carson right behind him, a horrified expression on his face. As her bonded mate, he felt everything Shye felt. The deathgrip on his soul made him feel weak and as helpless as a turtle flapping on its back. He fell beside her, his own breathing becoming raspy like a sick horse.

"Sh-Sh-Shye," he stuttered, reaching out to grip her hand tight.

Her fingers twitched, her eyes wide with absolute terror. "Re...mi..."

Tears formed in Cherif's eyes and spilled over, fat droplets of remorse leaving shiny trails down his cheeks. Just because he had wanted Shye didn't mean he wanted Remi dead. If either of them died, so would the other, and everything would come falling until he could barely cope any more. The loss of Bastien and Gilbert had been enough to their family.

"Dy...al...i...is..." Shye croaked out, trying to speak.

It came out so soft Cherif barely heard it. "What, Shye?" he sobbed, stroking her fearful face.

"Dy...ali...sis..."

"Dyalisis?" he frowned. "Is that what will help?"

She managed to nod. "'es..."

He turned to Carson with a wild, tearful smile. "Dyalisis will help her!" he exclaimed and lifted her up. "Get Zar and Dev to help Remi. He needs to do it, too."

"Remi?"

He looked up at Shye's voice in the void of whiteness before him, wishing he hadn't left her alone with Cherif. She was there, decked out all in a white and off-white version of her black and red pyjamas. "Shye?" he whispered, realising he was all dressed in white.

She sniffled and hugged him tight. "_Ho paura, Remi. Per favore, per favore, dimmi saremo uscire da questo . Ti amo così tanto. Non ho mai pensato che si arrivasse a questo._.."

He stroked her hair, holding her closer and closer until she was practically sinking into his skin. "I promise, everything will be okay, Shye. I love you and that's all that matters."

She sobbed into his bare chest, finally allowing herself to really cry. She had never cried before now, not properly anyway, but it was such a relief to know that Remi would never harm her, that he would live through this with her without asking Savitar to break their bond. It touched her heart and made her believe, for the first time in her entire life, that love truly existed for her.

"I love you, Shye," Remi told her firmly. "Never forget that."

"I love you, too, Remi."

Shye awoke to a truly nasty ache in her joints as if she had been asleep for a very long time. Cherif was asleep, half sprawled across the bed next to her. The room was hers, still with everything of hers there.

With her bones giving an audible creak of protest, she sat up and gently shook him awake. "Cherif," she murmured, giving his shoulder a push. It didn't wake him. She pinched his nose to stop his breathing, which certainly got his attention.

He sat bolt upright and stared at her like a lovesick fool. "Shye," he breathed, climbing onto the bed and cupping her cheek with one hand.

She nodded. "The one and only," she said with a big grin. "How long have I been out of it?"

"Two weeks," he admitted, biting his lip. "Remi should wake up soon, if you're awake now. The effects of the poison passed to him as well."

She smiled with utterly relief. "That's good, that he should be awake soon." With a cautious movement, she leaned forwards and placed a chaste, soft kiss on Cherif's mouth.

He responded instantly, letting her kiss him with all the purity and adoration she had. She had his head between her palms, cradling it gently as his lips manipulated her into letting her guard all the way down.

_You're mated, remember, you stupid bitch!_ she scalded herself, then jerked back from Cherif's kiss. "Oh, Gods," she gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth.

Cherif knew she was upset by the way her lower lip quivered. "I'm sorry," he told her sincerely. "That was out of line for me."

She shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "Cherif, I lied to you." She inhaled deeply. "I do love you like a brother and a best friend and Remi as he is but I lied when I said there was nothing we could do to change it. When my kind find their soul mates, they are the only person we will ever have sex with unless we're raped or sexually abused like I was. Remi isn't the only one I've wanted as my first - you, Nick, Colt, Jasyn. My mind is a slut but my body isn't."

He frowned deeper. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you were right," she said softly. "If you had been the first man I made love with, you would have been the one the Fates chose for me, not Remi. He was my very first. You deserve you freedom, really, you do, but Remi and I balance - with you, things would admittedly be quite boring because we're both as calm as each other. That's why I wanted Remi more than anyone else, because of his temper. Like I told him, my kind have a calming scent we sweat from our scales, or pores when we're in human form. I keep him calm but I'd probably relax you into a coma."

He laughed at her joke. "Shye, I can see now that you and Remi are fantastic together. You're right, you do balance. The tornado and the volcano, as Acheron put it. I don't blame Remi for falling head over heels in love with you. You're beautiful, funny, intelligent, absolutely amazing and I would kill for the chance to go back in time so I could have been your first. But I wouldn't want your happiness to suffer because of my selfishness." He gave her a gentle chuck on the chin. "You're always gonna be Shyeanne LeAngellette to me, no matter what happens because I love you."

She hugged him tight as the door opened to reveal Remi in just a pair of jeans. He rubbed his eyes, standing on shakey legs. "Shye, you okay?"

She leapt for him, kissing him deeply enough to touch his heart and soul on a level he barely understood. He didn't want to understand it because it felt so fucking good he never wanted to let go.

"I love you," she breathed. "_Ti amo, caro mio_."

"_J'taime aussi, mon ange_," he chuckled. "I love you, too."


	9. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Cherif asked as he watched Bride style Shye's hair with meticulous fingers.

Shye looked up at him with large, round eyes. "I'd be definate even if I was scared," she smiled. "Gods, I'm so nervous. What if he doesn't think I look okay?"

He laughed. "Shye only a blind man could think you don't look utterly beautiful. You're dazzling. I just hope you know you're making the right descition."

She sniffled and rubbed her nose, trying not to smudge the make-up Tabitha and Amanda had spent hours doing. "I'll miss you while we're away," she smiled. "I'll email you every day, I promise."

She looked at her wrist where the large bangle she had been wearing the night she turned up was glittering gold in the light. "Something old," she mused, then touched her beautiful white dress. "Something new." She looked inside her dress at the sexy underwear Tabitha had loaned her. "Something borrowed." She gestured to the sapphire-studded clip in her hair. "Something blue."

"Perfect," Bride said finally, then took up her own bouquet. "We'd better be going now, Shye. Don't want to make Remi wait for his beautiful bride now, do we?"

She smiled and pulled the veil over her face before taking Remi's arm. "It's ironic that we're having the wedding downstairs, isn't it?" she laughed as her bridesmaids - Aimee, Josette, Bride, Tabitha, Amanda, Angellia, Marissa, Grace, Tory, Katra, Mia, Simi and Vanessa - fell into step behind them.

"Not at all," he laughed. "You were made here so it's only right you should be complete here."

xxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxx

"Scared, my brother?" Dev grinned at Remi as he clutched his hands together.

"Shitless," he answered in an irritated tone. "Gods, Dev, what if she changes her mind and goes off with someone else?"

He shook his head. "She won't, Remi. She loves you too much and you know it. Just take care on the honeymoon to Greece. Don't slip up."

Onstage, Colt and the Howlers launched into a sudden rocked-out version of 'Here Comes The Bride'. Shye came around the corner with her arm linked with Cherif's, a veil over her face. Since Ash had insisted on being a witness, she had asked Cherif to give her away.

He could see her smiling behind the veil and his heart shattered. He adored her smile.

"Close your mouth, Remi," Ash hissed. "Or the wind'll change."

He did as he was told and gave a weak smile as Shye stepped up onto the alter where Eros and Psyche stood, ready to marry them in the literal sense of the word.

Cherif and Shye turned to each other and he lifted her veil. He kissed her on the cheek, grinning and went to stand with Ash. She turned to Remi, eyes aglow.

"I love you," he mouthed.

"I love you, too," she smiled back.

"Dearly beloved," Eros boomed dramatically. "We are gathered here today, yadda yadda yadda, to join together Shyeanne LeAngellette and Remi Louis Peltier in the eyes of myself and Psyche, not God because we're actually valid." People in the vast audience laughed. "Let's get on with it. Remi Louis Peltier, will you take Shyeanne LeAngellette to be your lawfully wedded wife to love and to hold, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

He beamed and took the ring from Quinn, who played the role of ringbearer. He slipped the simple gold band onto Shye's finger, grinning like an idiot. "I will," he said firmly.

"Shyeanne LeAngellette, also known as Princess Anira of the Kylosa, will you take Remi off our hands and make an honest man outta him already?" Eros grinned. Psyche slapped his arm.

She laughed. "Of course, I will," she chuckled, slipping the ring onto Remi's finger. "Always."

"Then I pronounce you Bear and Mermaid," Eros laughed. "You, Bear, may kiss the Mermaid's scaley butt."

Remi pulled Shye close and laid a scorching kiss over her lips, which she returned with her own. As they kissed, she allowed her human form to drop to reveal her true form. There were no horrified gasps or wonderous murmurs. She was truly accepted as she was and nothing, no demon broker, Daimon, god or general sadist could change that.

"I love you," Remi growled.

"I love you, too," she smiled as he set her on her feet. "Now let's get this party started, people!"

**Well, that's the end of it! I know it's a little short but writer's block is a royal bitch. Thanks for reading, guys! Pleanty more DH Ffs were this one came from but it's a question of which OCs to which DH Characters LOL. Have fun! xxxxxx PS, don't forget to REVEIW! LOLOLOL**


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